A Rat and a Street Thug
by Graveyard-Shift Writer
Summary: Summary: When Splinter is separated from his sons, he is injured in the alleys. The thug he saves decides to return favor…. This alliance is just as shaky, unstable and doomed as a condemned building. Can Splinter make it work just as long as he is being carted around? Can his sons find him?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: TMNT is not mine, it in fact belongs to Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.**

**Title: The rat and a street thug**

**Genre: Friendship**

**Summary: _When Splinter is separated from his sons, he is injured in the alleys. The thug he saves decides to return favor…. This alliance is just as shaky, unstable and doomed as a condemned building. Can Splinter make it work just as long as he is being carted around? Can his sons find him?_**

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_**Prologue**_

_"Come along boys," Splinter chided gently and flicked his tail in a manner of authority – his four sons were trailing behind him, Raphael was again bickering with Leonardo. Splinter was honestly stumped about what to do about Raphael, the source of most of the bickering. Leonardo, Donatello and Michaelangelo all had a dislike for conflict, but Raphael was unfortunately the living embodiment of it._

_"Leonardo, Raphael!" Splinter reprimanded "You two are not permitted to speak to each other for the rest of this journey, understand?" His sons in blue and red mumbled something before looking away from each other. Splinter managed somewhat of a smile and grimace when he heard his youngest son in orange make and off the wall remark and get immediately rebuked by his brothers. Although Michaelangelo always had the best intentions at heart, Splinter sometimes wondered if he ever used his mind for anything other than plotting on how to infuriate his brothers (Raphael in particular)._

_The mutant family was currently seeking shelter topside – Ms. O'Neil's place or Mr. Jones, there was a colossal storm going on, and they did not wish to be in the sewers if a bad flood were to happen._

_Splinter suddenly stopped and his ears perked up; distant roaring steadily growing stronger…._

_"Master?" Leonardo asked from behind him "Is something the matter?" Unfortunately, his sons could not hear what he could; his rat hearing had always been rather acute even in his old age, and his sons didn't even have ears to speak of so the fact they could hear at all always boggled Splinter._

_"Run my sons!" Master Splinter commanded and started sprinting, his startled sons quickly followed suit; Splinter knew they were lagging behind purposely because they could very easily out-run him, but they did not wish too. Such loyal students they were, but now was not the time._

_"Run faster! Leave me behind if you have to!" Splinter commanded._

_"We aren't leaving you!" They all refused, Master Splinter quickly turned his head to face them and gave them a glare._

_"That is an order!" He barked "Michaelangelo, you are the fastest; run at top speed and lead your brothers to Ms. O'Neil's."_

_"But-" His nunchaku-wielding son tried to argue, but the torrent of words caught in his throat when Splinter lay his serious gaze on him._

_"Michaelangelo!" He warned; with a gulp, the orange-masked turtle nodded reluctantly and ran at top speed ahead. "The rest of you, run and follow your brother!"_

_Reluctantly, with Splinters orders and yelling, they did what he said, even when they were far ahead of him Splinter still urged them._

_The roaring wasn't so distant now…_

_Splinter only had time to wonder if his sons were okay when the wave crashed into him._

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**There weren't enough stories about Splinter... So I thought, why not?**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: TMNT is not mine, it in fact belongs to Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.**

**Title: The rat and a street thug**

**Genre: Friendship**

**Summary: _When Splinter is separated from his sons, he is injured in the alleys. The thug he saves decides to return favor…. This alliance is just as shaky, unstable and doomed as a condemned building. Can Splinter make it work just as long as he is being carted around? Can his sons find him?_**

* * *

**Chapter one**

Splinter was lying on his belly; he was, quite literally, a half-drowned drenched rat. When the wave had hit him, he had managed to stay calm and hold his breath, and the current carried him to a storm drain that emptied the water into some irrigation concrete city stream. He would have been dumped into the stream if he had not grabbed onto the partially broken cover-rail of the drain.

He was weak; the hand he had used to grab the railing was broken from the force of the rushing water, and his lungs were half-full of water, making breathing difficult. And he felt heavy due to the water soaked in his fur.

Splinter wanted to lay down and rest, but he pushed himself to stay awake and slowly pick himself up; he coughed up much water as he shakily rose onto his hind-paws.

His tired beady black eyes stared ahead; luckily, the stream of the concrete was low, he could wade through it. He was not sure what part of the city he was in, all he knew was that he must have been swept away to an unfamiliar part of it.

Coughing up more water, Master Splinter hobbled down the stream, sticking to the shadows where he was not seen.

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Call it teenaged mellow-drama, but sometimes Thug felt as if the world really had something against her. If her current poverty, complete lonliness and low social standings weren't bad enough, she was currently at knife-point in a filthy, dark alley-way and her pride didn't allow her to scream for help. Damned pride.

"Fella's, fella's!" Thug awkwardly said and put her hands up to her former gang-mates "Can't we put all of this behind us and go on with our lives?"

"No ones leaves the P_oi_ple Dragons!" Pike growled, pressing the blade against her throat "At least, not alive!"

"We'll teach you for trying to leave, Thug." Switch told her, punching his fist threateningly. Thug had to fight back a snort; Switch and Pike were both only twelve years old, contrasting to her being sixteen. But unfortunately, even at her best performance she could probably take only one of them down; taking on them both when they had weapons and she had squat? She might as well already order a coffin.

Thug let out a cry of pain when Pike punched her hard in the stomach; she crumpled down as Switch kicked her in the ribs; damn! If she lived, she was going to go another week limping.

Thug was so used to these mosh-pit gang beatings that she didn't bother fighting back, because A) There was no way to win, and B) Fighting back would only make it more horrible. Leaving only the option of taking it until they eventually got bored and left so she could limp back home and lick her wounds.

"St - Stop!" A weak, gruff voice shakily hollered; Thug sighed in relief when the assault of kicks stopped. Switch and Pike turned to the silhouette of what looked like a short, haggard man.

Switch and Pike laughted.

"What are you gon' do 'bout it?" Pike challenged and licked his blade threateningly; it only served to make him look like bad-anime fan. All he needed was exaggerated face veins.

Thug took this chance to weakly lift herself up barely and crawl away far enough so she could stand up and start slipping away.

But r some reason, she turned back around as she stood up and saw Switch and Pike were fighting the guy; her heart panged, they were beating up some three-foot-nothing hobo who wanted to save her, she had to do something.

"COPS!" She shouted; Pike and Switch had known her long enough to know her beef against the boys in blue, so upon hearing her cry of it, the two younger boys ran off.

Once they were gone, Thug approached the man, who was now lying on the ground. Poor hobo must have been injured before hand, his labored breathing was enough indication.

"Are you alright?" Thug asked in spite of herself and knelt next to the guy; she could barely see him in the darkness.

"G-Get…. Away." The old man told her in a creaky voice "You must not see me."

"But you helped me!" Thug argued and put a hand on his arm, her hand instantly shot away when she felt nothing but…. Fur?

The street lights flicked on and Thug fought back a scream when she saw him; soaked gray fur, muzzled face, freaking fuzzy _ears, _naked long tail. It was a rat!

Thug tried to run away from the freak, but her conscience nagged at her; he did help her, Switch and Pike beat him because he tried to help her….. She owed him, and she was inclined to help him to, no matter how much of a freak he was.

Right?


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: TMNT is not mine, it in fact belongs to Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.**

**Title: The rat and a street thug**

**Genre: Friendship**

**Summary: _When Splinter is separated from his sons, he is injured in the alleys. The thug he saves decides to return favor…. This alliance is just as shaky, unstable and doomed as a condemned building. Can Splinter make it work just as long as he is being carted around? Can his sons find him?_**

* * *

**Chapter two**

Splinter woke up to the feeling of something being pressed against his muzzle "Hey uh…. Guy….? Wake up…" A not-so-faraway voice called to him, sounding awkward and unsure.

Splinter groggily struggled to open his eyes; his vision was tired and blurry at first and he tempted to let his eyelids fall again so he could descend once more into the comforting embrace of rest. In front o him appeared to be a young lady; one with scars, bruises, shabby clothing, an equally shabby slouch and a black bandanna around her head and hair.

"C… Can you talk?" She asked.

Splinter grunted in response, his throat was very sore but he managed to answer "Y… Yes."

"Whoa, that is really freaky!" She said, she then lifted a spoon near him "This is medicine, it'll uh….. Help you get better."

Master Splinter resisted the urge to roll his eyes; he could speak, how could this human think he was not knowledgeable? But, ignorance was typical of humans, especially teenaged ones. Ignorance was an issue with any race of intelligent beings.

"Thank you." He said and let the human give him several spoonfuls of bitter medicine. Once done, he surveyed his surroundings. It was a single room and he was lying on a ratty old couch with stuffing flowing out of several of the holes in the fabric. The room had old plaster walls and the floor was concrete with small rectangular shag carpet in a corner, in another corner there was an old dirty mini-fridge wired in a strange way. There were several cardboard boxes and some wooden crates with different items such as clothes or food, books, blankets, ect. There was a table that was simply a large wooden board propped up on crates. Near the old splintery door (the only one) there was another box with a backpack and a jacket in it.

"So uh, thanks for saving me and all…." The human girl said to him and put the medicine into the small fridge; Splinter noticed she was limping "I would stick around, but I gotta get to school soon so you can just hang around here until I get back…. My pad is your pad, and hospitality shit like that, it ain't much but it's better than being out in the alleys…" The girl seemed almost nervous, Splinter could tell by the quickness of her speech, and the constant biting of her already rather messed-up fingernails.

The girl grabbed a pair of ratty sneakers and put them on, she then got to the door and put the very worn-looking jacket on, before she picked up her backpack and put it over her back as well "You uh…. Just make yourself comfortable, there's isn't much to do but there is some food in the fridge if you get hungry even if it's ghetto-stock…. And yeah, I'll be back later…." She finished before retreating from the strange room; she opened the door and slammed it behind her as she left.

Once the girl was gone, Master Splinter vaguely wondered if that had truly happened; it was quite obvious the human was confused and scared in his presence, but she also seemed to have struggled to act as if he were normal….

Master Splinter struggled to remember what happened last; he had been trudging through an irrigation city stream after having been hit by a sewer flood…. What of his sons? Were his sons alright? Had they made it out to the safety of Ms. O'Neil's?

Master Splinter was momentarily distracted when he heard mewing; he turned his head to see a small pure white cat with pale blue eyes approach him… The cat's fur was kinked and had patches, and the cat itself was very bony. "Hello there…" Splinter greeted the cat, as he would often to Michaelangelo's cat Klunk.

The cat of course did not respond, but it jumped onto the couch onto his lap and purred, rubbing against the mutants furry chest. Splinter chuckled a bit and began to pet the small cat. When he had first mutated, Splinter had a fear of cats; natural, since he was a rat and cats often tried to hunt him down when he was a normal rat. But he had allowed Michaelangelo to keep Klunk on the account that the ginger cat was friendly, and not 'evil' like many cats.

While petting the feline, Splinter continued to look around the room; it was in sorry shape, but he could tell the human was trying very hard to make it into a home. He wondered where her parents were, surely the girl could not be legally old enough to live on her own?

Sighing, Splinter decided to rest some more until the human girl returned; he was in no condition to leave to find his sons, so for now he would have to rely on the young human.

Resting his head back against the old pillow, Splinter closed his eyes and returned to his land of dreams.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: TMNT is not mine, it in fact belongs to Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.**

**Title: The rat and a street thug**

**Genre: Friendship**

**Summary: _When Splinter is separated from his sons, he is injured in the alleys. The thug he saves decides to return favor…. This alliance is just as shaky, unstable and doomed as a condemned building. Can Splinter make it work just as long as he is being carted around? Can his sons find him?_**

* * *

**Chapter three**

Around 2:00 in the afternoon, the girl returning 'home' woke Splinter up again. With a sigh, the girl took off her backpack and hoodie and put them back in the box next to the door.

The cat jumped off of Splinter with a seemingly excited mew and bounded over to the girl to rub against her leg. The girl smiled to bend over and stroke the cat between the ears "Hey Shortstuff." She grumbled and went to the old mini-fridge, where she pulled out a sandwich. Then she plopped herself on the small place on the couch where Splinter was not splayed, her cat 'Shortstuff' was trotting at her feet the whole time.

"Your still here?" The girl asked as she turned to Splinter, she had a puzzled expression "I'm surprised, this isn't exactly the most cozy place on the side of Jersey."

"We are in New Jersey?" Splinter asked, his voice still hoarse; the girl nodded.

"Yeah; East Rutherford. What, you didn't know? I thought you were from here." Said the girl between mouthfuls of sandwitch, Splinter shook his head.

"No, I live in Brooklyn…" He told her; the Lair was located in the sewers of Brooklyn, and while he and his sons did often travel to the other parts of New York (Queens, Bronx, ect) that was their main 'territory'.

"Wow, where does a giant rat like you live?" The girl asked, partly sarcastic. Splinter flattened his ears and did not reply "Which brings the question of, what exactly are you?"

"That is not a story I am eager to share with a stranger." Splinter said "But my name is Splinter; tell me child, what is your name?"

The girl chewed her bottom lip and contemplated "Thug." She replied after some time; Splinter's ears raised in interest.

"Surely that is not your real name." Splinter pressed.

Thug laughed "Nope, Thug ain't my real name, it's a street-name dude. Who the hell would name their kid 'Thug'?"

"What is your real name?" Splinter asked.

"That is not something I am eager to share with a stranger." Thug said in an imitation of him. Splinter rolled his eyes; kids…. "Anyways, you said you were from Brooklyn right? Give me an address and I can take you back."

"What?" Splinter asked, caught off-guard.

"It's the least I can do, yo. You did save me from Switch and Pike; I had a feeling those two might go too far and actually kill me or something. So uh… Yeah, I don't mind having to cart you around."

"Cart me around?" Splinter repeated, the girl gave a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"You see… I could never afford driving lessons, so I can't drive. And I don't think it would be safe to take you on a cab or bus…. So uh, since your all light and shit I can just carry you on my back, you know, to the twelve miles back to Brooklyn." Thug said.

"I am not a feeble, helpless old man young lady, I would not appreciate being carried." Master Splinter told her.

"Well, your ankle is twisted and your hand is shattered." Thug told him; Splinter looked to his leg and leg and saw that they were indeed wrapped in strips torn from an old white sheet. Master Splinter wondered how he had not noticed this early "And I think you might be sick; when I found you, you were like a drenched rat – no pun intended." Thug told him with another nervous laugh.

Master Splinter sighed; indeed, he was in a weakened state, no condition for traveling on his own. He did feel slightly ill, perhaps he had caught a fever from being soaked to the bone for so long.

"But uh, I hope you don't mind having to wait." Thug continued.

"Why is that?" Master Splinter asked.

"It's raining like hell out there, definitely can't travel very far from here in that kind of weather." Thug replied "Hell, if there wasn't a bus-stop a block away, I probably would be staying home!"

"Tell me miss, where are your parents?" Splinter asked "You do not look old enough to be living on your own, especially if you still attend school."

There was a flash in Thug's eyes; Splinter could see it was pain that she was trying to hide. Thug shrugged nonchalantly anyways "They're dead and six-feet under." She responded "The state tried to send me to a foster home, but I didn't want to live in no foster home so I just moved here."

"Where is 'here'?" Master Splinter questioned as he looked around the one-room 'home'.

"Just an abandoned shop that got boarded up and cleared out a long time ago." Thug replied "I've been living here for about a year."

"What do you do about food and money?" Splinter asked; if this girl went by a street name like Thug, than it was possible she was a criminal.

"I sell soda's." Thug replied "I buy a 12-pack of a cheap brand for three bucks and sell them each for a dollar; ever since soda machines were banned from our school ever kid has been going to me."

Splinter frowned "Is that not a bit overpriced?"

"Dude, conservative belief; _buyers beware._" Thug told him and sat back on the couch cushions "They don't _have _to buy soda's from me, I'm not twisting their arm, if they don't like the prices then they can fuck off and find someone else."

Master Splinter felt his ear twitch; he never quite liked the mouths on the young people these days, but he got where she was coming from. Although, he had to admit it was rather strange to hear a teenager going by an alias of _Thug _quote the conservative theory.

Thug played with the cross around her neck before getting up "Well, I got homework to do; not that I'm a nerd or anything, but there ain't much to do around here." Thug excused.

Splinter was a bit taken aback; was all of this really happening…? He sighed; yes, yes it was, and it looked like he saw going to be staying here for a while with this girl while the rain receded and he recovered from the flood.

Shortstuff mewed and padded towards him; the ragged white cat purred and rubbed against his arm which hung over the side of the couch. Splinter jerked up in alarm when there was a clap of thunder from the outside storm; but he saw that the cat had not reacted at all.

"Is there something wrong with this cat?" Master Splinter asked Thug as she pulled a mess of papers out of her backpack.

"Yeah; Shortstuff is deaf**1.**" Thug responded.

A half hour passed the girl was done "Hey, you want something to eat Splinter? Eh, do you want cheese?" She asked with a chuckle.

Splinter's ear twitched in amusement "That is kind of you…" He said simply.

Thug came back and handed him a cold, wrapped McDonalds cheeseburger "Sorry about the dollar-menu food, but when you live on a nine-dollars-a-day payscale you can't exactly afford food that isn't ghetto-stock."

"That is alright; it is kind of you to share your food." Splinter said; Thug shrugged and ate her own cheeseburger; she pulled off a portion of the meat patty and gave it to Shortstuff to eat.

There was silence.

"If this is an abandoned building, how is it the lights are on?" Master Splinter suddenly asked out of curiosity; there were lights on, and a working fridge, and he doubted she paid electricity bills.

"I'm bumming off the cities electricity. The city over-looked it's electricity balance or some shit like that; for some reason the city still powers this building, weird right? Oh well, don't look a gift house in the door." Thug said with a shrug.

Splinter slowly nodded; he continued to eat the stone-like cold cheeseburger and once again wondered if his sons were okay. He desperately wished to return home to his family.

But for now, he would have to be patient.

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**1: White-furred, blue-eyed cats are often genetically born deaf.**

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**For now Thug and Splinter get along... For now, but Splinter will find the human girl does things that he does not appreciate**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: TMNT is not mine, it in fact belongs to Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.**

**Title: The rat and a street thug**

**Genre: Friendship**

**Summary: **_**When Splinter is separated from his sons, he is injured in the alleys. The thug he saves decides to return favor…. This alliance is just as shaky, unstable and doomed as a condemned building. Can Splinter make it work just as long as he is being carted around? Can his sons find him?**_

* * *

"How are you holding up?" Thug asked, she didn't look up from her Sociology textbook but she knew that Splinter excersizing, testing out his sprained ankle.

"Quite well, thank you." Splinter answered, taking one careful step after another, intent on staying balanced.. A loud, surprising knock on the door caught him off guard and made him fall down onto his torso.

Thug looked to the door, stiff. "Hey Thug, you home?" A voice from the other side called, Thug sighed in both relief and annoyance.

"Splinter, you need to hide somewhere." She whispered panicky to the mutated rat, she looked around for something for the elder to hide in but when she looked back to where he was a moment ago she saw that he was gone.

"Whoa, that was pretty cool." She said impressed, before answering the door. Outside the door was a smiling boy with maple-brown eyes, a thick mop of feathery dishwater-blonde hair soaked in rainwater, and tan skin. He was wearing a highlighter-yellow big hoodie with brown cargo pants.

"Yo Sol!" Thug greeted and let him inside, he kicked his shoes off and put them in the box.

"What's up." He greeted, a smile gracing his features "I brought you a present." He said in a gentle voice and handed her a slightly wet, small cardboard box.

Thug opened it and pulled out another, flat rectangle bakery box, her face filled with surprise happiness "Cookies? Sweet dude!"

"And this." He then gave her a thermos and a small plastic sandwich bad full of small marshmallows. Thug's regularly lukewarm expression became very happy when she opened the thermos.

"Hot chocolate, you are awesome bro!" Thug cheered as she sat down on the couch, soon joined by the other teenager. "But that jacket, really?"

"I like this jacket..." Sol pouted, holding his hoodie in a manner similar to a child about to get his toy taken away.

Thug rolled her eyes "The color is way to... annoyingly bright. If you were to run around really fast in circles in front of me, I think I'd get a seizure." She smacked him on the side when he got up and pulled him back down to the couch. "Don't even think about it Sol Melendez!" Snapping as she twisted the cup-lid off of the thermos and pouring hot chocolate into in it, then sprinkling in the small marshmallows.

Her companion pouted further "No fair Thug, no one knows your full... or even real name."

"Yeah, awesome right?" Sarcastically Thug inquired, a mischievous look in her eyes.

Silence as she drank her hot chocolate.

"Well listen..." Sol trailed off "I was talking to dad, mom and Moony..."

"Please don't have this conversation with me." Thug moaned.

"What is your problem? My parents and Moony like you, you know I love you, and we can't stand that you're living like this..."

"I just can't take handouts, Sol!" Thug said, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"You're being silly," Sol said, putting a hand on her shoulder "If you were bleeding to death and someone offered you their blood, would you still say no?"

Thug was silent, until finally she sighed "I'll think about it." But that simple statement was enough to make Sol light up like a christmas tree and wrap his arms tightly around the street girl.

"You won't regret this! I'll tell Moony to get things ready!" He started getting up and put his shoes back on.

"Wait, Sol, that wasn't a..."

"See you soon Thug, love ya!" And like that he was out of the door.

* * *

Splinter painfully climbed out from under the couch.

"Dude, creeper much?" Thug said with a laugh and helped the older mutant back onto the couch, she offered him a cookie which he gratefully took.

"Was that your... Significant other?" Splinter asked, taking a small bite of the cookie.

"_Boyfriend, _Splinter, boyfriend. I know you're all old and zen-like, but you're allowed to use a very modern term. And yes, Sol is my boyfriend. Since middle school." The teenager confirmed with a laugh.

"What was it you two were discussing?" Splinter asked.

Thug sighed "For the past few years, Sol's been - even though I told him not to - begging his parents to let me move in with them. Moony, his grandmother, has been siding with him lately."

"That is very fortunate for you." Splinter said calmly.

"I know, I know... It's just..." Thug trailed off, her hand curled into a hard ball "It's not like I have no other choices but be on the street, I know it sounds stupid and arrogant but I don't want to take _handouts _to get off of the street. I want to earn my way off the street, I want to work hard and know for sure whatever I have I have it because I deserve it. I could have lived with foster parents, I could live with the nice couple down the street, I could have went into a homeless shelter... But, as kind as it all is I don't want help... Does this make sense?" She took a deep breath after her long rant-like explanation.

Splinter put his half-finished cookie on his lap and looked into the girls eyes, blue-gray and so tired, dulled with premature knowledge. "Plant your feet with the weight of the world on your shoulders," Splinter said "but you already know this. You are fortunate to know what so many of your generation do not, and that is how the real world works... But if you and this boy do love each other, then you should accept at least his help. You can still work as hard as you'd like, but let yourself breathe a little easier with help from others."

"Thanks Splinter." Thug said, she then yawned "Tomorrow's Saturday, the rains gonna be a drizzle tomorrow, I think we should take you back home tomorrow, I have stuff to do around town anyways..."

Thug yawned again, she drank the remainder of the cooling hot chocolate and curled up in a ratty old blanket before falling asleep, even though it was only six o'clock in the afternoon. Splinter smiled and patted the childs head; she was breathing easier already.

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**Short and terrible... Oh well**

**Sol Melendez (Hailing from a Mexican family), Thug has a boyfriend to show people that she is not going to be paired with the turtles... Ever. Also, normal teenagers tend to date.**

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